Fargo Burger King
Fargo, North Dakota
CCA
November 17, 2005 In-Forum News
The suspected mastermind behind strip searches of employees at chain
restaurants and stores nationwide - including one at a north Fargo Burger
King - faces felony charges in Kentucky for a hoax there. Authorities
arrested David Richard Stewart of Panama City, Fla., after tracking a call
from a Wal-Mart to Kentucky, where an18-year-old McDonald's employee was
sexually abused last year when an assistant manager followed directions from
a caller. Court papers state Stewart, 38, posed as "Officer Scott"
when calling the McDonald's in Mount Washington. He convinced the assistant
manager to strip-search the woman, who Scott said was suspected of stealing.
The call resembles one made to the Fargo Burger King on 19th Avenue North in
January 1999. The caller, posing as "Lieutenant Scott," convinced
then-night manager Jason Allan Krein to strip-search a 17-year-old female
employee in his office. Krein later pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, a
misdemeanor, and served 30 days in jail. In Kentucky, the assistant manager
and her boyfriend also face charges for the McDonald's strip search. The
assistant manager faces an unlawful imprisonment charge while her boyfriend
faces sexual abuse and sodomy crimes. Authorities charged Stewart with
impersonating a police officer and soliciting each of the other crimes. The
suspects all pleaded not guilty and face trials next month. "It was a
horrible, horrible ordeal that this young lady had to go through," said
Walt Sholar, the Bullitt County, Ky., attorney handling one of the cases.
Nationwide, Sholar said there are about 70 cases similar to the ones in
Kentucky and Fargo. Dozens of police departments have contacted Mount
Washington authorities convinced they arrested their suspect. "I have no
doubt in my mind that he's been the one behind all of them," Mount
Washington Police Detective Buddy Stump said. "For the sake of the rest
of the country, I hope and pray that it is." Stump broke the case open
after the city told him to find the caller. "We realized how many people
have been affected across the United States," he said. "I thought
it was my duty." With help from detectives in Massachusetts and Florida,
Stump zeroed in on a surveillance video at one of Panama City's three
Wal-Marts. Once they had the guy's image, they tracked Stewart to a private
prison company where he worked. Stewart remains free on bond until his trial.
Calls to a phone listing for David Stewart in Panama City went unanswered. In
January 1999, a man called six Fargo businesses- two Burger Kings, three Taco
Bells and Payless Shoe Store - in an attempt to convince managers to
strip-search female employees. At the north Fargo Burger King, Krein went
along with the caller's demands, undressing the employee and touching her
legs to describe them to the caller. At Krein's court hearing, East Central
District Judge Georgia Dawson said "it's just not conceivable" for
Krein to think the search was proper. Fargo attorney Adam Hamm, a prosecutor
then, told Dawson the girl was traumatized for months. "Of all the cases
I prosecuted, this was one of the cases that burned itself into my
memory," Hamm said. "I have always wondered if I made the right
decision in charging Jason Krein with the charge." Hamm said he prepared
a more serious charge against Krein but balked at filing it because of how
state law defines sexual contact. "I knew I could prove the misdemeanor
and at some level he had to be held responsible," Hamm said. After the
Fargo strip search, the girl and her parents sued Burger King, owned by RED
Inc. in Grand Forks, N.D. The case was settled in mediation, according to
those familiar with the case. Details of the settlement are not public. Krein
moved to Wisconsin and could not be reached for comment. Fargo Lt. Tod Dahle
recalls the Burger King search because police tracked one call to a Florida
pay phone and the caller posed as a Fargo officer. After the incident, Fargo
police received reports of similar incidents in Grand Forks, Devils Lake,
N.D., Watertown, S.D., and Virginia and Wisconsin. "Ever since that happened,
I probably got a call about that case every three months," he said.
"Of course, I'd learn it happened somewhere else." With Stewart's
arrest, Dahle said Fargo police will ask prosecutors to review the case to
determine if charges can be filed against Stewart. "I think to some
degree, the people (managers) wanted to participate," Dahle said.
"I don't think we'll ever know how many times this guy (Stewart) was
told no."

New England Prison
Dickinson, North Dakota
MiscOctober 7, 2004 Bismarck TribuneA
new women's prison in southwestern North Dakota is running $228,000 in
deficits for its operations and medical costs, and it hopes to negotiate
higher state payments in the next two years, its administrator says. Medical expenses alone for the New
England prison, which now houses about 90 inmates, have exceeded state
payments by about $140,000 from November 2003 through September, said Colby
Braun, the prison's interim director. The New England prison,
which is a converted Roman Catholic boarding school and convent, has a
contract to house female inmates in North Dakota's prison system. It began
taking minimum-security prisoners last November, more than three months late,
and started accepting medium-security inmates only last August. The delays
prompted the prison's board of directors to demand that its administrator,
Norbert Sickler, take early retirement. Braun told lawmakers on Wednesday that the prison has
incurred $465,049 in inmate medical expenses from November 2003 through
September 2004, while getting $324,997 in state payments. The contract says
the New England prison will absorb the first $50,000 of any medical cost
overrun, with the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation making
up any shortfall beyond that.

Pembina
County
May 2, 2002
A privately run prison is not the answer to the state's inmate housing
problems, say consultants who are preparing a report on North Dakota's
corrections system. The consultants' comments, made Wednesday to members of
the Legislature's interim Corrections Committee, irritated Pembina County
officials who have been trying to rally support for a private prison in North
Dakota's northeastern corner. The company's president, Michael Fair, and vice
president Karl Becker told legislators Wednesday they did not believe a
privately run prison would save money for North Dakota taxpayers. 'I would
suggest at this point, for a system this size, it's only going to cost you,'
Fair said. Becker said private corrections companies would probably have more
difficulty hiring North Dakota workers because of the state's low
unemployment rate and small labor pool. The companies also count on having
fewer workers and paying them less than state employees make, but North
Dakota's corrections system already has 'very, very lean' staffing and
relatively low pay, he said. 'I'd be very surprised if a private facility
could come in, with a comparable type of penitentiary, and save significant
dollars,' Becker said. Fair said a private company would ask the state to
guarantee a minimum number of inmates for its prison. Inmates who are sick,
or pose disciplinary problems, would be put back into the state corrections
system, he said. 'They get to operate with the cream of the crop, every state
they go to,' Fair said. 'Look at the security levels that private operators
run. They don't run any of the big, tough institutions.' Five years ago,
county officials lobbied former Gov. Ed Schafer to support a private prison
in Pembina County. Instead, Schafer advocated converting a building on the
grounds of the Jamestown state mental hospital into a prison. The Legislature
approved the remodeling project, and the James River Correctional Center now
holds more than 300 inmates. (The Bismarck Tribune)

Perry County Correctional and
Rehabilitation Center,
Uniontown, Alabama
Louisiana Correctional ServicesJune
3, 2010 The Dickinson Press
Four Alabama fugitives who were involved in a standoff near Gladstone that
ended a year ago today cost Stark County nearly $80,000, officials say. North
Dakota taxpayers will continue paying for them as they serve their prison
sentences — which vary from 7.5 years to 20 years. Stark County officials
wonder if an Alabama prison is to blame for the incident and whether they can
make the prison cover some of the costs. Ashton Mink and Joshua Southwick
allegedly escaped from Perry County Correctional Center in Alabama with the
help of Mink’s wife, Jacquelin, and his sister, Angela in May 2009. “Frankly,
the escape was well-planned and very well-executed,” said Richard Harbison,
executive vice president of LCS Correction Service Inc., which owns Perry
County Correction Center. “They knew exactly what they were doing and they
were able to find the weaknesses, so to speak.” He added they’re the only
ones to ever escape from the prison. The four then robbed Movie Gallery in
Dickinson at gunpoint, shot at a North Dakota Highway Patrol trooper and
holed up in a garage at a farmstead near Gladstone. After a standoff with
police that lasted several hours, Southwick and Angela Mink — who were
reportedly dating — surrendered. Ashton and Jacquelin Mink ran out the back
of the garage they were hiding in handcuffed together and fired at officers.
Authorities believe they were trying to end their own lives by getting
officers to fire at them. Ashton Mink was shot by officers and Jacquelin Mink
then shot herself. Tom Henning, Stark County state’s attorney, said the
county is refusing to pay an additional $65,000 for Jacquelin Mink’s hospital
bill. He said that bill was from her stay at a Bismarck hospital after the
standoff, but before she was taken to jail. “These people were not arrested
and had not been in the custody of Stark County, and therefore we aren’t
responsible,” Henning said. Stark County has to pay for their medical costs
after they were arrested. Ashton Mink was taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital in
Dickinson, which did not bill the county for his treatment. “After they
inquired about the nature of the matter and were informed that we did not
consider them to be prisoners at the time of their injuries, nor were they in
custody at the time of their injuries, they did not inquire any further about
payment,” Henning said. Though he hasn’t begun researching whether or not it
is possible, Henning said he plans to pursue a lawsuit against LCS Correction
Service. “The question kind of looms about whether or not they could be found
to have been negligent and therefore responsible for foreseeable costs of
their escape,” Henning said. Harbison declined comment regarding the matter.
However, he said security has been enhanced at the prison since the escape,
though he wouldn’t say how. “We’ve changed a number of policies and of course
a number of people were fired over the incident,” Harbison said. Angela and
Jacquelin Mink cut the power lines to an electric fence around the prison
during a storm so the men could escape, according to a previous Press
article. After the fugitives’ serve their time, they will be taken back to
Alabama to face prison escape charges, Harbison said. Costs: Housing: $53,400
($60 a day while going through court procedures) Medical: $20,704 Hospital
security: $3,945 Total: $78,049

June
24, 2009 Park Rapids Enterprise
Ashton Mink was arrested after a nearly 14-hour standoff June 6, on a ranch
south of Gladstone. Authorities say Mink and his wife, Jacquelin, were
wounded in an exchange of gunfire. Authorities say one of four Alabama
fugitives has been transferred from a Dickinson hospital to jail. Ashton Mink
was arrested after a nearly 14-hour standoff June 6, on a ranch south of
Gladstone. Authorities say Mink and his wife, Jacquelin, were wounded in an
exchange of gunfire. Stark County Sheriff Clarence Tuhy said Ashton Mink was
released Tuesday from a Dickinson hospital and taken to jail. He is awaiting
a bail hearing. Jacquelin Mink is hospitalized in Bismarck. The couple along
with Ashton Mink's sister Angela and Joshua Southwick, face charges of
conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to commit robbery. They are
accused of robbing a movie store in Dickinson and shooting at a Highway
Patrol trooper. Authorities say Southwick and Ashton Mink escaped from an
Alabama prison in May and that Angela and Jacquelin Mink helped them.

June
10, 2009 Athens News-CourierTom Henning, state’s attorney in Stark County, N.D., said it’s possible
the four people accused in an escape from an Alabama prison facility will
remain imprisoned in North Dakota for some time. If convicted, the group
could serve sentences there before being returned to Alabama to face charges
of escape. “Yes, they could end up spending jail time in North Dakota,
presuming convictions and at such time as we’re satisfied, then they’ll go
back to the demanding state,” he said. Joshua Southwick, who was convicted in
the 2003 slaying of a Limestone County man, and Ashton Mink, convicted of
attempted murder in a stabbing during a home invasion in Madison, escaped
from the Perry County Correctional Facility in Uniontown, Ala., on May 25.
U.S. Marshals say Angela Mink, Ashton’s sister, and Jacquelin Mink, his wife,
cut the fence from the outside of the private prison facility to help the two
get free. The four were captured in Gladstone, N.D., Saturday during a video
store robbery. Southwick and Angela gave themselves up but Ashton and
Jacquelin held officers at bay for 14 hours. They were shot in the process.
Ashton is under armed guard at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Health Center in
Dickinson, N.D. His wife is under armed guard at St. Alexius Medical Center
in Bismarck, N.D., Henning said. “I have no idea when they will be able to go
to court,” he said. “I’d say at least a month.” In the meantime, Southwick
and Angela Mink are being held at Southwest Multi-County Correctional
Facility, each charged with criminal conspiracy to commit robbery, which
carries a 10-year maximum sentence. “It’s entirely likely there will be more
charges” stemming from the standoff and shootout, Henning said.

June
6, 2009 KFYR TVFour of America's Most Wanted fugitives were arrested Saturday in western
North Dakota. The group started out in Alabama earlier in the week and came
to North Dakota where police say they went on a crime spree. By Saturday
night, two of the suspects were recovering in a Dickinson-area hospital after
being shot by police after a standoff in Gladstone. That was the culmination
of a series of crimes that started with a robbery Friday night in Dickinson
and included shots being fired at a North Dakota Highway Patrol trooper during
a chase. Let's take you back a week and set the stage that led to these
events. Police had been looking for 26-year-old Joshua Southwick, and
22-year-old Ashton Mink since they escaped from an Alabama prison on Memorial
Day. Mink was serving a 20-year sentence for 1st degree assault. Southwick
was serving a life sentence for murder and 1st degree burglary. Authorities
say they escaped prison in Alabama by wearing kitchen workers` uniforms The
pair allegedly fled through holes that were cut out of the prison fence by
Ashton Mink's wife, Jacquelin, and sister Angela Mink. Somewhere along the
way, all four made it to North Dakota. The trouble in North Dakota started in
Dickinson Friday night around 11:00, when the suspects, two men and two
women, robbed a movie rental store. The foursome fled, and a Highway Patrol
trooper noticed a suspicious car speeding away. The trooper followed the car
onto I-94, and that's when passenger in the suspects` car fired at the
trooper. At least one bullet went into the trooper's car. The fleeing car
continued east to Gladstone prompting the Highway Patrol to lock down the
small town. Authorities blocked off a two-mile section of road leading into
town. Police kept an eye on things during as residents were notified of the
threat through a reverse 911 system. Gladstone resident Kim Hetzel says,
"After we got the automated phone call early this morning, get up, and
lock the doors, and kinda just watch out." Authorities found the
suspects after the owner of a farmstead noticed the four were staking out in
his detached garage. Stark County sheriff Clarence Tuhy says, "They're
from the Alabama area; the two males are escapees from a private prison in
the Alabama area which were aided in escape by the two females." The
perps took refuge in the farmstead's garage as more than a half dozen
agencies flocked to the area. About 12 hours later Tuhy says, "A male
and a female came out giving up peacefully at which time a male and female
came out a side door firing at officers." Officers then fired back,
striking both Ashton Mink and his wife, Jacquelin. The couple is being
treated at an area hospital. So far, there's no word on the conditions of the
two suspects who were shot. No officers were injured, and Joshua Southwick
and Angela Mink were taken into custody. "Any time no officers get
injured is a good thing," notes Tuhy. But while no officers or residents
were hurt physically, it will take a long time for the emotional scars of
this almost surreal crime to heal.

Prairie Correctional
Facility
Appleton, Minnesota
CCA/TransCorDecember
26, 2009 APThe closing of a private prison that once housed dozens of North Dakota
inmates shouldn't affect the state's management of its prisoners, North
Dakota's corrections director says. The Prairie Correctional Facility at
Appleton, Minn., is shutting down Feb. 1. The prison, which is capable of
holding about 1,600 inmates, is about 150 miles southeast of Fargo. Its
owner, Corrections Corp. of America, which is based in Nashville, Tenn., said
there has been much less demand for prison space from the states of Minnesota
and Washington, the lockup's two primary customers. North Dakota's Department
of Corrections and Rehabilitation used the Appleton prison for several years
to relieve overcrowding problems in North Dakota's system. However, the state
hasn't sent prisoners to Appleton since the spring of 2006, said Leann
Bertsch, the agency's director. The private prison housed more than 40 North
Dakota inmates that year.

January 25, 2006 AP
A private Minnesota prison is giving North Dakota more time to find space for
inmates who have been housed there. The Appleton prison, operated by
Corrections Corporation of America, notified North Dakota in November that it
no longer had room for North Dakota prisoners. As of early this week, the
state still had 48 prisoners in Appleton, which is more than 300 miles from
Bismarck. North Dakota warden Tim Schuetzle said the Appleton prison has
given North Dakota until the end of March to find another place for them. CCA
offered to take some prisoners to another prison it operates in Colorado for
the same price per day, per inmate - $54, Schuetzle said. But the Colorado
lockup is about twice as far from Bismarck as the Minnesota prison, and the
Colorado prison will only take 27 North Dakota prisoners, he said.

December 15, 2005 Bismarck
Tribune
Until everyone sentenced by the state justice system can serve their prison
time in facilities in North Dakota, the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation will face the quandary of where to place all the inmates. The
problem was highlighted by the decision made by Corrections Corporation of
America that its privately owned, run-for-profit prison in Appleton, Minn.,
soon will not take North Dakota prisoners, and the ones already there will
have to go elsewhere. CCA's decision about the Appleton prison was prompted
by its agreement with the state of Minnesota to give priority to that state's
needs, and Minnesota has a growing surfeit of inmates. But CCA has made an
offer to the North Dakota prison administration: The company will take some
overflow prisoners into one of its many other prisons, this one located in
Burlington, Colo. It is a limited solution, not an ideal one. The mileage
from North Dakota to eastern Colorado is double that to southwestern
Minnesota. That fact plays out in staff time and other costs for transporting
prisoners, a fact noted by Director of Prisons and penitentiary Warden Tim
Schuetzle. He talks about the cost and the logistics of DOCR staff doing
transportation because the department is leery of using TransCor, a company
owned by CCA that specializes in the activity. It was TransCor that misplaced
notorious prisoner Kyle Bell some years ago.

December
6, 2005 AP
A private prison in Minnesota can no longer take inmates from North Dakota,
the North Dakota prison warden says. Warden Tim Schuetzle said the Prairie
Correctional Facility in Appleton, Minn., is filling up with Minnesota
inmates and can no longer house North Dakota prisoners. "Sometime over
the next month or so we'll be moving the North Dakota inmates out of
Appleton," he said. "That creates problems for us because we don't
have any space at our prisons here." He said arrangements are being made
to house prisoners at another privately run prison in Burlington, Colo.
"But it's twice as far for us to transport inmates so it's more
expensive," Schuetzle said.

BISMARCK – A
prisoner transport company that allowed a sex offender to escape from one of
its vans in 2011 in Barnes County has agreed to pay $70,000 to reimburse
authorities and farmers who used combines to flush Joseph Matthew Megna from
a cornfield. U.S. Attorney Timothy Purdon, who announced the settlement
Monday, said Extradition Transport of America LLC also agreed to pay a
$10,000 civil penalty. Purdon said it was the first lawsuit filed under the
Interstate Transportation of Dangerous Criminals Act of 2000, also known as
Jeanna’s Act in reference to 11-year-old Jeanna North of Fargo, who was
murdered in 1993 by Kyle Bell. After being sentenced to life in prison, Bell
escaped in October 1999 from a private prisoner transport bus and was
apprehended three months later. Megna was being transported from Florida to
Washington to face a child molestation charge on Oct. 4, 2011, when he
escaped from the ETA van at an Interstate 94 rest stop near Tower City and
fled into a cornfield. The Barnes County Sheriff’s Office eventually rounded
up a group of local farmers with combines to take down the corn, and Megna
surrendered shortly after the harvest began.

September 7, 2012 Superior
Telegram
A prisoner transport company says it should not have to pay costs to farmers
who helped flush an escaped convict from a North Dakota cornfield. A federal
lawsuit against Extradition Transport of America asks a judge to order
restitution for several law enforcement agencies and the farmers who formed a
posse for the October 2011 search. Authorities say about $95,000 was spent
recapturing Joseph Megna, who was being transported from Florida to
Washington state. The feds say the action is possible under a 2000 federal
law passed following the escape in New Mexico of an inmate convicted of
murdering an 11-year-old Fargo girl, Jeanna North. The company says in a
response filed Wednesday that the federal court does not have jurisdiction in
the case and it should be thrown out.

January 4, 2012 In Forum
A sex offender who fled a private prison transport van and led authorities on
a 22-hour manhunt last fall in a Barnes County cornfield pleaded guilty to a
felony escape charge Wednesday. Joseph Matthew Megna, 30, who was being
extradited from Florida to the state of Washington on Oct. 4 when he escaped
the van and sparked a search that cost more than $91,000, was sentenced in
Barnes County District Court to the three months in jail he’s already served.
He’ll again be extradited to Franklin County, Wash., where he faces a first-degree
charge of child molestation for allegedly fondling a boy under the age of 12.
He faces up to life in prison if convicted. After being arrested
mid-afternoon on Oct. 5, Megna claimed he escaped when the van stopped at an
Interstate 94 rest stop because he hadn’t been properly fed in the trip from
Florida. He reiterated that claim Wednesday morning, looking around and
saying no one else in the courtroom would have acted any differently. “I was
treated basically like an animal,” he said. Megna apologized to the people of
Barnes County, whom he called “very nice people,” and said he didn’t mean to
cause problems. “It was stupid and wrong, but under the circumstances, I felt
it was the thing to do at the time,” he said. Barnes County State’s Attorney
Lee Grossman acknowledged that the sentence was lenient when considering
Megna’s criminal record and the manhunt. But, given that keeping Megna here
would have meant time in prison, it was the appropriate sentence to get him
out of Barnes County and on the road to Washington, where he faces a far more
serious charge, Grossman said. “This is small potatoes compared to that,” he
said. Meanwhile, authorities – and farmers who harvested part of the
cornfield to try to flush out Megna – are still waiting for the insurer of
the transport company, Extradition Transport of America LLC, to reimburse
them for the manhunt. Chief Deputy Don Fiebiger said a Texas firm is handling
the claim. “Their holdup has been getting information from actually the
transport company,” he said. “So it’s been three months and we haven’t got
any checks from them or anything.” Fiebiger said the U.S. Attorney’s Office
also is looking into whether the transport company should pay a civil penalty
of $10,000 for violating the Interstate Transportation of Dangerous Criminals
Act, also known as Jeanna’s Act in reference to 11-year-old Jeanna North of
Fargo, who was murdered in 1993 by escapee Kyle Bell. Franklin County plans
to use a different transport company to move Megna this time, Fiebiger said.
Costs incurred with Megna manhunt -- This list of costs associated with the
22-hour manhunt for Joseph Megna on Oct. 4-5 was submitted to the insurer of
the prisoner transport company that allowed him to escape from one of its
transport vans. Barnes County Sheriff Randy McClaflin said they’re still
awaiting payment from the insurance company. Agency Cost -- American Red
Cross $400 Barnes County Sheriff‘s Office $4,756 Cass County Sheriff’s Office
$8,450 Customs helicopter (8.4 hours) $15,473 Fargo K-9/SWAT $746
James/Valley SWAT/Stutsman Sheriff’s Office $4,982 Moorhead Police Department
$243 N.D. Bureau of Criminal Investigation $460 N.D. Game and Fish Department
$5,790 N.D. State Patrol/airplane $11,277 Smith farm/area farmers $35,230
Valley City Police Department/CodeRED $3,063 West Fargo Police Department
$153 Total $91,023

October 7, 2011 AP
A manhunt for a convicted sex offender who was flushed from a North Dakota
cornfield with the help of farmers in combines cost law enforcement about
$55,000, and local authorities said Friday that the transport company moving
the inmate should pay the bill. California-based Extradition Transport of
America was moving Joseph Megna from Florida to Washington state. Cass County
Sheriff Paul Laney said the company, which is bonded and insured for such
incidents, is cooperating and should pick up the tab. "Their mishandling
of this situation cost the taxpayers of all these entities a lot of
money," Laney said. Laney said the company could face sanctions under a
federal law, sponsored by former North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan, that was
prompted by the escape of a man who murdered a Fargo girl in 1993. Kyle Bell,
convicted of killing 11-year-old Jeanna North, fled in 1999 from a private
prison transport bus. Extradition Transport of America declined comment.
Megna, 29, escaped during a rest stop Tuesday night near Tower City.
Authorities said he was in plain clothes and wasn't handcuffed. He
surrendered Wednesday afternoon after farmers in a half-dozen combines - each
with SWAT team members as escorts - harvested about 100 acres of corn.
"This is unique in the sense that, God bless North Dakota, we bring
everybody together to solve the problem and we put guys up on combines,"
Laney said. Megna was surprised by the attention he received. "Am I
famous for running into a cornfield?" he asked a group of reporters
through an open window in the back seat of a police sport utility vehicle.
Costs include officer overtime, fuel and mileage for ground vehicles, a
helicopter and an airplane. The farmers who volunteered their time and
equipment will be compensated for fuel, mileage and wear and tear on the
combines, Laney said.

October 5, 2011 INFORUMA high-risk sex offender who escaped a prisoner transport van and sought
refuge in a cornfield near here was nabbed by law enforcement about 2:30 p.m.
today. Joseph Megna, 29, said he's a vegetarian and the "transport
lady" was serving him nothing but bread and cheese. "I was starving
and that's why I escaped and fled out into the cornfield," he said after
being captured. "I wasn’t trying to hurt anybody.” Authorities tapped
the help of local farmers in an attempt to end the large-scale manhunt that
began more than 20 hours ago after Mgna, a convicted high-risk sex offender
from Washington state, fled a transport van near here Tuesday.